Living next door to my school when I was young was nice. It gave me easy access to a large play area. During the summer there were little league games held at the back, upper level of the school. Me, being a little leaguer myself, would gravitate to the games.
One day I found myself up at the field in an difficult situation. A group of boys from one of the cross town schools decided to pick on me. One of them, who i believe was in the grade ahead of me “called me out.” He had all sorts of boys supporting him and heckling me. Some of these boys were two or more grades above me.
Sure enough I backed down. They followed me all the way across the school and down a street, calling me names, etc. I even passed up my house because I didn’t want them to know where I lived. They eventually stopped, turned around, and headed back to the school. I sat alone, timid, and shaken to my bones. I felt pretty much like a “chump.”
After standing for a while a change of mind welled up from within my being. I decided to go back and stand up for myself. I walked all the way back to the field and told the kid, “I accept.” Of Course I was still feeling kinda scared and timid, and we were close to the stands where the parents were. Sure enough they called me on my desire to fight in that spot. They said, “You just want to fight here so the parents will save you.” They requested to move the mob to behind one of the school buildings. I reluctantly accepted.
Around this time two older boys from my side of town saw the uneven “back up” situation, and told me they would “coach,” and support me. They filled my mind with all sorts of boxing related strategies. All this wisdom was about to go out the other ear.
The circle formed and into the ring I went. This fight would set the tone for several others that I had growing up. Intense and Fierce. I walked right up to the kid and punched him in the face. Immediately, I got him in a head lock. I dragged him back and forth across the ring. Then I threw him on the ground and straddled his chest/stomach region. With both hands I choked him till his face begun to turn blue. The older kids from his side and my “coaches” rushed in and broke up the fight. I remember one of my coaches saying, “you fight dirty.”
This was not the end however. One of his older friends called me out. Within seconds I repeated the same process. Punch to the face, head lock, followed by a choking on the ground. I totally wasted these guys, both, in a few minuets. An even older friend of theirs tried to call me out, but it was a totally wack proposal. This guy seemed like he was in High School. My coaches backed him off.
